News

PARIS, France--Comparison of two sequential Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) trials has shown that the addition of cisplatin (Platinol) and etoposide (VePesid) to hyperfractionated radiation therapy significantly boosts survival in patients with inoperable non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), Ritsuko Komaki, MD, reported at the American Radium Society meeting.

WASHINGTON--The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has awarded a broad patent on gene therapy to the National Institutes of Health. Six years after filing the application, NIH and its licensee, Genetic Therapy, Inc. of Gaithersburg, Maryland, can now use the patent for ex vivo human gene therapy.

GAITHERSBURG, Md--The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has licensed its broad patent covering gene therapy techniques to Genetic Therapy, Inc. The inventors cited on the patent are gene therapy pioneers W. French Anderson, Steven Rosenberg, and Michael Blaese.

Radiation Therapy Oncology Group Study 91-11 offers patients with stage III and IV squamous cell carcinoma of the glottic and supraglottic larynx a chance to save their voice box.

COLLEGEVILLE, Penn--A patient with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer has become the first to receive an injection of a p53/retrovirus gene therapy into existing tumor cells, Introgen Therapeutics, Inc. and RPR Gencell, a division of Rhône-Poulenc Rorer, have announced.

MENLO PARK, Calif--Ansan, Inc., an operating company of Titan Pharmaceuticals, has received FDA approval to start a phase I trial of its butyric acid derivative AN-9 in patients with solid tumors. In preclinical studies, AN-9 demonstrated broad anticancer activity and may have less toxicity than standard chemotherapeutic agents, the company said.

NASHVILLE--Researchers at the National Institutes of Health have seen objective responses in some of the 15 patients treated to date in the first clinical trial of gene therapy in brain tumors, Michael Blaese, MD, said at the scientific subcommittee session on gene therapy at the American Society of Hematology (ASH) meeting.

NASHVILLE--Using a "hairpin ribozyme" gene, researchers at the University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine have managed to stop HIV infection in its tracks by dismantling the virus's RNA.

ROCKVILLE, Md--To the surprise of many, the FDA Oncology Drugs Advisory Committee recommended that Taxotere (docetaxel, Rhône-Poulenc Rorer) not be approved for marketing at this time. The company was seeking approval of the drug for use in locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer when previous therapy with an anthracycline has failed, and in locally advanced or metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer after failure of platinum-based chemotherapy.

COLLEGEVILLE, Pa--Rhône-Poulenc Rorer Inc. (Paris, France) has formed a new division, RPR Gencell, dedicated to the discovery, development, and commercialization of cell and gene therapy products. To accelerate such discoveries, the company has also created a biotechnology network comprising 14 biotech companies and academic research centers.